Semiconductor device and method of manufacturing same

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device includes a first transistor including a first source/drain region and a first sidewall spacer, and a second transistor including a second source/drain region and a second sidewall spacer, the first sidewall spacer has a first width and the second sidewall spacer has a second width wider than the first width, and the first source/drain region has a first area and the second source/drain region has a second area larger than the first area.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 12/877,882,filed Sep. 8, 2010, and is based upon and claims the benefit of priorityfrom the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-208306, filed onSep. 9, 2009, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

The embodiments discussed herein are related to a semiconductor deviceincluding a transistor, and to a method of manufacturing thesemiconductor device.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, consumers have demanded that a semiconductor devicehave a higher packing density and higher performance, and those demandshave increased the number of MOS transistors formed on a semiconductorsubstrate.

A general MOS transistor has impurity regions serving as a source and adrain (hereinafter referred to as “source and drain regions” or a“source/drain region” in a representative way), a channel region, and anextension region disposed at each end of the channel region. Such a MOStransistor is formed, for example, by the method described below.

A gate insulation film and a gate electrode are formed on a siliconsemiconductor substrate. Extension regions are formed by ion-implantingimpurities into the semiconductor substrate with the gate electrodebeing used as a mask. Sidewall spacers are formed on both sides of thegate electrode. The source and drain regions are formed byion-implanting impurities into the semiconductor substrate at a higherconcentration up to a depth deeper than the extension regions with thegate electrode and the sidewall spacers being used as masks. Heattreatment (thermal processing) is performed to activate the impuritieshaving been introduced to the semiconductor substrate. A MOS transistorhaving the extension regions is completed in this way.

As described above, a heat treatment operation for activating theimpurities (hereinafter also referred to as an “activation heattreatment” operation) is performed in a process of manufacturing the MOStransistor. In the heat treatment operation, the impurities implanted tothe source and drain regions are diffused into the interior of thesemiconductor substrate under the gate electrode such that the spacingbetween the source and the drain (hereinafter also referred to as the“channel length”) is shortened. The shorter spacing between the sourceand the drain gives rise to the so-called channel shortening effect withwhich a threshold voltage is reduced. For that reason, the activationheat treatment is performed in a short time by using, e.g., the RTA(Rapid Thermal Annealing) process. Further, the thickness of eachsidewall spacer is set to a value that is suitable to minimize theshorter channel effect caused by the diffusion of the impurities.

It is known that the diffusion distance of the impurities during theheat treatment operation is related to the impurity concentration. Inview of such a point, a MOS transistor has been proposed in which theimpurity concentration in the source is set higher than that in thedrain and the thickness of the sidewall spacer on the same side as thesource is increased to suppress an overlap between the source and thegate electrode, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2005-5372.

SUMMARY

A semiconductor device includes a first transistor including a firstsource/drain region and a first sidewall spacer, and a second transistorincluding a second source/drain region and a second sidewall spacer, thefirst sidewall spacer has a first width and the second sidewall spacerhas a second width wider than the first width, and the firstsource/drain region has a first area and the second source/drain regionhas a second area larger than the first area.

The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attainedby at least the feature, elements, and combinations particularly pointedout in the claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoinggeneral description and the following detailed description are exemplaryand explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a semiconductor substrate beforeactivation heat treatment;

FIG. 1B is a sectional view of the semiconductor substrate after theactivation heat treatment;

FIG. 2A is a chart illustrating a simulation result of an impurityconcentration profile in a transistor A after the heat treatment;

FIG. 2B is a chart illustrating a simulation result of an impurityconcentration profile in a transistor B after the heat treatment;

FIG. 3A is a graph illustrating impurity concentration distributions inthe horizontal direction in the transistors A and B immediately afterimpurity implantation and after the activation heat treatment;

FIG. 3B is a graph illustrating impurity concentration distributions inthe vertical direction in the transistors A and B immediately after theimpurity implantation and after the activation heat treatment;

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the relationship between a thresholdvoltage Vth and a gate length L in each of the transistors A and B;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to a firstembodiment;

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B, 10A, 10B, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 13A,13B, and 14 are sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturingthe semiconductor device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 15A is a chart illustrating an impurity concentration profile inthe transistor A after the heat treatment;

FIG. 15B is a chart illustrating an impurity concentration profile inthe transistor B after the heat treatment;

FIG. 16A is a graph illustrating impurity concentration distributions inthe horizontal direction in the transistors A and B immediately afterthe impurity implantation and after the activation heat treatment;

FIG. 16B is a graph illustrating impurity concentration distributions inthe vertical direction in the transistors A and B immediately after theimpurity implantation and after the activation heat treatment;

FIG. 17 is a graph illustrating the relationship between the thresholdvoltage Vth and the gate length L in each of the transistors A and B;

FIG. 18 is a sectional view of a semiconductor device according to amodification of the first embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to asecond embodiment;

FIGS. 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, and 21C are sectional views illustrating amethod of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the secondembodiment;

FIG. 22 is a sectional view of a semiconductor device according to amodification of the second embodiment;

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to athird embodiment; and

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to afourth embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

It has been generally thought that, if the impurity concentration is thesame, the diffusion distance of impurities during heat treatment mayalso be the same. However, experiments and studies made by the inventorsof this application have proved that, when an MOS transistor having amicrostructure is formed, the amount (distance) of diffusion ofimpurities changes depending on the size of a source/drain region evenwith the same impurity concentration. As a result of such a phenomenon,the channel length changes depending on the size of the source/drainregion even in the MOS transistor that has been manufactured under thesame conditions.

When a transistor has a large gate length, e.g., a large width of a gateelectrode, the difference in the amount of diffusion of impuritiesdepending on different sizes of the source/drain region hardly causes aproblem. However, when a transistor has a small gate length, aninfluence of change in the channel length caused by the difference inthe size of the source/drain region is so large as to makecharacteristics, e.g., a threshold voltage, different between thetransistor having the large source/drain region and the transistorhaving the small source/drain region.

For convenience in layout, for example, a semiconductor device includesa plurality of MOS transistors in which the sizes of their source/drainregions differ from each other. In an electronic circuit formed by usinga plurality of MOS transistors, different characteristics of the MOStransistors may cause an operation failure.

FIG. 1A is a sectional view of a semiconductor substrate beforeactivation heat treatment, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view of thesemiconductor substrate after the activation heat treatment. In FIGS. 1Aand 1B, the left side represents a MOS transistor having a smallersource/drain region (hereinafter referred to as a “transistor A”), andthe right side represents a MOS transistor having a larger source/drainregion (hereinafter referred to as a “transistor B”).

In FIGS. 1A and 1B, reference numeral 10 denotes a semiconductorsubstrate, 11 a and 11 b denote gate insulation films, 12 a and 12 bdenote gate electrodes, 13 a and 13 b denote extension regions, 14 a and14 b denote source/drain regions, 15 a and 15 b denote sidewall spacers,and 16 denotes a device separation region. Further, in FIGS. 1A and 1B,the distance from the sidewall spacer 15 a of the transistor A to thedevice separation region 16 is indicated by Wa, and the distance fromthe sidewall spacer 15 b of the transistor B to the device separationregion 16 is indicated by Wb. Wb is larger than Wa. Hereinafter, thedistance from the sidewall spacer to the device separation region, e.g.,the length of each of the source and the drain in a directionperpendicular to the gate electrode, is also called a “source/drainwidth”.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, in the state before the activation heattreatment, edges of the source/drain regions 14 a and 14 b aresubstantially coincident with outer edges of the sidewall spacers 15 aand 15 b. When the heat treatment is carried out in such a state, theedges of the source/drain regions 14 a and 14 b come closer respectivelyto the gate electrodes 13 a and 13 b due to diffusion of impurities, asillustrated in FIG. 1B.

When heat treatment conditions are set to be adapted for the transistorA, the diffusion distance of the impurities is increased in thetransistor B and the spacing between the source and drain regions 14 b,e.g., the channel length, is shortened.

FIG. 2A is a chart illustrating an impurity concentration profile in thetransistor A after the heat treatment, and FIG. 2B is a chartillustrating an impurity concentration profile in the transistor B afterthe heat treatment. FIG. 3A is a graph illustrating impurityconcentration distributions in the horizontal direction in thetransistors A and B immediately after impurity implantation and afterthe activation heat treatment. A horizontal axis in FIG. 3A representsthe distance from the gate electrode at a position indicated by a line Hin FIGS. 2A and 2B. A vertical axis in FIG. 3A represents the impurityconcentration. FIG. 3B is a graph illustrating impurity concentrationdistributions in the vertical direction in the transistors A and Bimmediately after the impurity implantation and after the activationheat treatment. A horizontal axis in FIG. 3B represents the depth fromthe surface of the semiconductor substrate at a position indicated by aline V in FIGS. 2A and 2B. A vertical axis in FIG. 3B represents theimpurity concentration.

It is here assumed that the distance Wa from the sidewall spacer 15 a inthe transistor A to the device separation region 16 is 100 nm, and thedistance Wb from the sidewall spacer 15 b in the transistor B to thedevice separation region 16 is 1000 nm. Further, B (boron) ision-implanted as channel impurities into the semiconductor substrate.Still further, P (phosphorous) is ion-implanted into the source/drainregions 14 a and 14 b. The widths of the gate electrodes 12 a and 12 b,e.g., the gate lengths, are each 45 nm, and the widths of the sidewallspacers 15 a and 15 b are each 38 nm. The position of a pn-junction isrepresented by a position indicated by a dotted line in each of FIGS. 2Aand 2B and by a position at which the concentration of B (boron) and theconcentration of P (phosphorous) are substantially equal to each otherin FIGS. 3A and 3B. The width of the sidewall spacer represents thedistance from an inner side to an outer side of the sidewall spacer whenthe MOS transistor is viewed from above.

As seen from FIGS. 3A and 3B, the diffusion distance of the impuritiesin the transistor B having the larger source/drain regions is largerthan that in the transistor A having the smaller source/drain regions.

FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating the relationship between a thresholdvoltage Vth and a gate length L in each of the transistors A and B. InFIG. 4, a horizontal axis represents the gate length L, and a verticalaxis represents the threshold voltage Vth. As seen from FIG. 4, when thegate length L is about 50 nm, the difference in the threshold voltagebetween the transistors A and B is comparatively small. However, as thegate length L reduces, the difference in the threshold voltage betweenthe transistors A and B increases.

The reasons for increasing the diffusion distance of the impuritiesduring the heat treatment in the larger source/drain region have not yetbeen fully explained. These reasons are explained next. Impurity ionsimplanted into the semiconductor substrate move in pair with pointdefects in crystals toward the side where the impurity concentration islower. When the source/drain region is large, a total number of theimpurity ions and the point defects is large and so is the amount ofimpurities moving in pair with the point defects. Further, in a portionof the source/drain region near the device separation region, theimpurities are taken into the device separation region and the densityof the impurities is reduced. Accordingly, when the source/drain regionis small, a proportion of the impurities diffused toward the deviceseparation region is increased and a proportion of the impuritiesdiffused toward a zone under the gate electrode is relatively reduced.For those reasons, even when the impurity concentration is the same, thediffusion distance of the impurities toward the zone under the gateelectrode differs depending on the size of the source/drain region.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to a firstembodiment. The first embodiment is described in connection with thecase where two types of n-type MOS transistors A and B having differencesizes of the source/drain regions are formed as illustrated in FIG. 5.It is here assumed that Wa representing the size of the source/drainregion, e.g., the source/drain width, in the transistor A is 100 nm, andWb representing the size of the source/drain region in the transistor Bis 1000 nm. The gate length L is 45 nm in each of the transistors A andB, and the gate width W is 160 nm in each of the transistors A and B.

When manufacturing the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 5, ifthe heat treatment is performed under conditions adapted for thetransistor A having the smaller source/drain region, the diffusiondistance of the impurities implanted into the transistor B having thelarger source/drain region is increased too and the desired channellength may not be obtained. To cope with such a problem, in this firstembodiment, sidewall spacers 32 a are formed on both sides of a gateelectrode 29 a in the transistor A, while sidewall spacers 33 b areformed on both sides of a gate electrode 29 b in the transistor B inaddition to sidewall spacers 32 b each having the same width as that ofthe sidewall spacer 32 a.

FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B, 10A, 10B, 11A, 11B, 12A, 12B, 13A,13B, and 14 are sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturingthe semiconductor device according to the first embodiment in order ofsuccessive operations. The semiconductor device includes an n-type MOStransistor and a p-type MOS transistor. The n-type MOS transistor andthe p-type MOS transistor are formed through basically similar stepsexcept that the conductivity types of impurities introduced into thesemiconductor substrate differ from each other. Therefore, descriptionof a method of manufacturing the p-type MOS transistor is omitted here.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, a p-type silicon semiconductor substrate 20having a resistivity of 10 Ωcm is prepared and the surface of thesemiconductor substrate 20 is thermally oxidized to form athermally-oxidized film 21 in a thickness of, e.g., 10 nm. Then, asilicon nitride film 22 is formed on the thermally-oxidized film 21 in athickness of, e.g., 90 nm by the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)process.

Operations until obtaining the structure illustrated in FIG. 6B will bedescribed below. After forming the silicon nitride film 22 through theabove-described operations, a photoresist film is formed on the siliconnitride film 22. Then, exposure and development processes are performedto leave the photoresist film on the silicon nitride film 22 that ispositioned on each device region. Further, the silicon nitride film 22and the thermally-oxidized film 21 are etched away with the photoresistfilm being used as a mask, wherein the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 20 is exposed.

The semiconductor substrate 20 is etched up to a depth of about 260 nmto 350 nm by the dry etching process, thereby forming grooves 23. Inthis first embodiment, the depth of each groove 23 is set to 280 nm, forexample. Then, the photoresist film is removed.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, a silicon oxide 24 is deposited over theentire surface of the semiconductor substrate 20 by, e.g., the CVDprocess, wherein the grooves 23 are filled with the silicon oxide 24.Then, as illustrated in FIG. 7B, the silicon oxide 24 is polished by,e.g., the Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) process to such an extentthat the silicon nitride film 22 is exposed. Device separation regions26 are thus formed while the silicon oxide 24 remains in the grooves 23.As illustrated in FIG. 8A, the silicon nitride film 22 and thethermally-oxidized film 21 are removed by, e.g., the dry etching processto make the surface of the semiconductor substrate 20 exposed.

Although the device separation regions 26 are formed by the ShallowTrench Isolation (STI) process in this first embodiment, the deviceseparation regions may be formed by the Local Oxidation of Silicon(LOCOS) process, for example.

Operations until obtaining the structure illustrated in FIG. 8B will bedescribed below. After forming the device separation regions 26 throughthe above-described steps, the substrate surface in each device regionis thermally oxidized to form a sacrifice oxide film in a thickness of,e.g., 10 nm. Then, B (boron) is ion-implanted through the sacrificeoxide film into a region where the n-type MOS transistor is to beformed, thereby forming a p-well. Ion implanting conditions at that timeare set, for example, to an acceleration voltage of 120 keV, a doseamount of 3×10¹³ cm⁻², and an irradiation angle of 0°, e.g., irradiationin a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface.

Into the substrate surface of the region where the n-type MOS transistoris to be formed, B (boron) is ion-implanted as channel impurities underconditions of the acceleration voltage of 10 keV, the dose amount of1.8×10¹³ cm⁻², and the irradiation angle of 7°, for example. Thesacrifice oxide film is removed to make the surface of the semiconductorsubstrate 20 exposed. The ion-implanted impurities are activated byperforming heat treatment for 10 sec at temperature of 1000° C. by,e.g., the RTA process.

The substrate surface in each device region is thermally oxidized by thethermal oxidation process to form a gate insulation film 28 in thicknessof, e.g., 1.6 nm.

Operations until obtaining the structure illustrated in FIG. 9A will bedescribed below. After forming the gate insulation film 28 through theabove-described process, a polysilicon film is formed in a thickness of90 nm on the gate insulation film 28 by, e.g., the CVD process. Aphotoresist film is formed on the polysilicon film by thephotolithography process, and then the polysilicon film and the gateinsulation film 28 are patterned by the dry etching process with thephotoresist film being used as a mask. Thereafter, the photoresist filmis removed. Gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b made of polysilicon, forexample, illustrated in FIG. 9A, are formed in such a manner.

Operatons until obtaining the structure illustrated in FIG. 9B will bedescribed below. Pocket regions 30 a and 30 b are formed after formingthe gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b through the above-described process.The pocket regions 30 a and 30 b are formed, by way of example, asfollows. In (indium) is ion-implanted into portions of the semiconductorsubstrate 20 under respective edges of the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 bfour times in total under conditions of the acceleration energy(voltage) of 70 key, the dose amount of 8×10¹² cm⁻², and the irradiationangle of 30°, for example, while the irradiation direction is changed inunits of 90°. As a result, the pocket regions 30 a and 30 b are formedunder the edges of the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b.

With the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b being used as masks, As (arsenic)is shallowly ion-implanted into the semiconductor substrate 20 under theconditions of the acceleration energy (voltage) of 1 keV, the doseamount of 2×10¹⁵ cm⁻², and the irradiation angle of 0°, for example,thereby forming extension regions 31 a and 31 b.

A silicon nitride film is formed in a thickness of, e.g., 40 nm over theentire upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 20 by the CVDprocess. The silicon nitride film is etched back, as illustrated in FIG.10A, to form the sidewall spacers 32 a and 32 b, each having a width of,e.g., 38 nm, on both sides of each of the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b.The width of each of the sidewall spacers 32 a and 32 b may becontrolled depending on the thickness of the silicon nitride film andthe conditions in etching back the silicon nitride film.

As illustrated in FIG. 10B, a silicon oxide film 33 is formed in athickness of, e.g., 8 nm over the entire upper surface of thesemiconductor substrate 20 by the CVD process. The silicon oxide film 33is etched back, as illustrated in FIG. 11A, to form the sidewall spacers33 a and 33 b, each having a width of, e.g., 5 nm, adjacent to thesidewall spacers 32 a and 32 b, respectively.

By using the photolithography process, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, aphotoresist film 35 is formed to cover a region where the transistor Bis to be formed. As illustrated in FIG. 12A, the sidewall spacers 33 ain a region where the transistor A is to be formed are removed byselective etching that utilizes a difference in etching rate between thesilicon nitride film and the silicon oxide film. Thereafter, thephotoresist film 35 is removed.

In the above-described example, the sidewall spacers 33 a and 33 b areformed on both sides of each of the transistor A and the transistor Band the sidewall spacers 33 a are removed while leaving the sidewallspacers 33 b. As an alternative example, the process may be modifiedsuch that a photoresist film covering the transistor B is formed in thestate illustrated in FIG. 10B, the silicon oxide film 33 covering thetransistor A is removed, and the sidewall spacers 33 b are formed overthe transistor B after removing the photoresist film.

With the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b and the sidewall spacers 32 a, 32b and 33 b being used as masks, as illustrated in FIG. 12B, P(phosphorous) is ion-implanted into the semiconductor substrate 20 underconditions of the acceleration energy (voltage) of 15 keV, the doseamount of 5×10¹³ cm⁻², and the irradiation angle of 0°, for example. Pis further ion-implanted into the semiconductor substrate 20 underconditions of the acceleration energy (voltage) of 8 keV, the doseamount of 10¹⁶ cm⁻², and the irradiation angle of 0°, for example. As aresult, source/drain regions 36 a and 36 b are formed respectively onboth sides of the gate electrode 29 a and the sidewall spacers 32 a andon both sides of the gate electrode 29 b and the sidewall spacers 32 band 33 b at a depth deeper than the extension regions 31 a and 31 b withhigher impurity concentrations than them.

Heat treatment is performed at temperature of 1030° for 1 sec by, e.g.,the RTA process to activate the impurities that have been implanted intothe pocket regions 30 a and 30 b, the extension regions 31 a and 31 b,and the source/drain regions 36 a and 36 b. The RTA process may bepracticed, for example, by laser annealing or flash lamp annealing.During such an activation heat treatment step, as illustrated in FIG.13A, the impurities implanted into the source/drain regions 36 a and 36b are diffused toward the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b, wherein thechannel length is shortened.

As described above, the diffusion distance of the impurities changesdepending on the size of the source/drain region. In this firstembodiment, therefore, the diffusion distance of the impurities islarger in the source/drain region 36 b than in the source/drain region36 a. This means that, if only the sidewall spacer 32 b having the samewidth as the sidewall spacer 32 a in the transistor A is formed in thetransistor B and the conditions for the activation heat treatment areset to be adapted for the transistor A, the channel length may beshortened and the so-called channel shortening effect may be generatedin the transistor B. In this first embodiment, however, since thesidewall spacers 32 b and 33 b are formed on both sides of the gateelectrode 29 b in the transistor B, the impurities may be suppressedfrom being excessively diffused toward a zone under the gate electrode29 b. Accordingly, the generation of the channel shortening effect maybe impeded.

Silicide films 37 a, 37 b, 37 c and 37 d are formed as illustrated inFIG. 13B. The silicide films 37 a, 37 b, 37 c and 37 d are formed, byway of example, as follows. Co (cobalt) is deposited to form a cobaltfilm on the entire upper surface of the semiconductor substrate 20 by,e.g., the sputtering process, and heat treatment is then performed onthe semiconductor substrate 20. With the heat treatment, the cobaltreacts with the silicon in respective upper portions of the source/drainregions 36 a and 36 b and the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b, wherein thesilicide films 37 a, 37 b, 37 c and 37 d are formed. Thereafter, theunreacted cobalt is removed by etching.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, a silicon nitride film 38 is formed in athickness of, e.g., 80 nm over the entire upper surface of thesemiconductor substrate 20 by the CVD process. An interlayer insulationfilm 39 made of, e.g., Undoped Silicate Glass (USG) andTetra-Ethyl-Ortho-Silicate (TEOS), is formed in a thickness of 145 nm bythe CVD process. Contact holes extending from an upper surface of theinterlayer insulation film 39 so as to reach the silicide films 37 a and37 b on the source/drain regions 36 a and 36 b are formed by performinga photolithography step and an etching step.

A Ti film and a TiN film are formed, as an adhesion layer (glue layer),in a thickness of, e.g., 14 nm over the entire upper surface of thesemiconductor substrate 20 by the sputtering process, and W (tungsten)is then deposited in a thickness of about 200 nm such that the contactholes are filled with W. Thereafter, the entire surface is flattened byperforming the CMP polishing until an upper surface of the interlayerinsulation film 39 is exposed. As a result, contact plugs 40 are formedwhich are electrically connected to the source/drain regions 36 a and 36b. A desired multilayered wiring structure is then formed bysuccessively performing a wiring forming operation, an interlayerinsulation film forming operation, a contact plug forming operation, andso on.

FIG. 15A is a chart illustrating an impurity concentration profile inthe transistor A after the heat treatment, and FIG. 15B is a chartillustrating an impurity concentration profile in the transistor B afterthe heat treatment. FIG. 16A is a graph illustrating impurityconcentration distributions in the horizontal direction in thetransistors A and B immediately after the impurity implantation andafter the activation heat treatment. A horizontal axis in FIG. 16Arepresents the distance from the gate electrode at a position indicatedby a line H in FIGS. 15A and 15B. A vertical axis in FIG. 16A representsthe impurity concentration. FIG. 16B is a graph illustrating impurityconcentration distributions in the vertical direction in the transistorsA and B immediately after the impurity implantation and after theactivation heat treatment. A horizontal axis in FIG. 16B represents thedepth from the surface of the semiconductor substrate at a positionindicated by a line V in FIGS. 15A and 15B. A vertical axis in FIG. 16Brepresents the impurity concentration.

It is here assumed that the distance Wa from the sidewall spacer 32 a inthe transistor A to the device separation region 26 is 100 nm, and thedistance Wb from the sidewall spacer 33 b in the transistor B to thedevice separation region 26 is 1000 nm. Further, B (boron) ision-implanted as channel impurities into the semiconductor substrate.Still further, P (phosphorous) is ion-implanted into the source/drainregions 36 a and 36 b. The widths of the gate electrodes 29 a and 29 b,e.g., the gate lengths, are each 45 nm. The width of the sidewall spacer32 a in the transistor A is 38 nm, and the total width of the sidewallspacers 32 b and 33 b in the transistor B is 43 nm, for example. Theposition of a pn-junction is represented by a position indicated by adotted line in each of FIGS. 15A and 15B and by a position at which theconcentration of B (boron) and the concentration of P (phosphorous) areequal to each other in FIGS. 16A and 16B.

As seen from FIGS. 16A and 16B, the distance between the pn-junction andthe edge of the gate electrode after the heat treatment is substantiallythe same in the transistors A and B that have been manufacturedaccording to the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a graph illustrating the relationship between a thresholdvoltage Vth and a gate length L in each of the transistors A and B thathave been manufactured according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 17, ahorizontal axis represents the gate length L, and a vertical axisrepresents the threshold voltage Vth. As seen from FIG. 17, in thetransistors A and B manufactured according to the first embodiment, thethreshold voltage is substantially the same over the range from 40 nm to50 nm of the gate length.

While the width of the sidewall spacer 32 a in the transistor A is 38 nmand the total width of the sidewall spacers 32 b and 33 b in thetransistor B is 43 nm in this first embodiment, those values are givenby way of example. Preferably, the widths of the sidewall spacers in thetransistors A and B are set by executing simulation calculations of theimpurity concentration distributions after the heat treatment with, forexample, the sizes of the source/drain regions 36 a and 36 b beingparameters, and by determining the widths of the sidewall spacers suchthat characteristics of the transistors A and B substantially match witheach other, or that the difference in the characteristics falls withinan allowable range.

In the first embodiment, as illustrated in FIGS. 12B, 13A and 13B, afterion-implanting P (phosphorous) into the semiconductor substrate 20, thesilicide films 37 b, e.g. are formed while the sidewall spacers 33 bremain in the region where the transistor B is to be formed.Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 18, the silicide forming step maybe carried out in a state that the sidewall spacers 33 b in the regionwhere the transistor B is to be formed have been removed, after theion-implantation of P or after the activation heat treatment. Such amodification is advantageous in that, as illustrated in FIG. 18, an areaof each silicide film 37 b in contact with the source/drain region 36 bis increased and an apparent resistance value of the source/drain region36 b is reduced.

FIG. 19 is a top plan view of a MOS transistor according to a secondembodiment. The second embodiment is described below in FIG. 19, a pairof source and drain regions disposed on both sides the gate electrodehave sizes differing from each other. In the second embodiment, asillustrated in FIG. 19, a source/drain region 54 a on the left side of agate electrode 51 has an L-shape, and a source/drain region 54 b on theright side of the gate electrode 51 has a rectangular shape. It isassumed in FIG. 19 that the gate length L is 45 nm, a length denoted byW1 is 160 nm, a length denoted by W2 is 240 nm, a length denoted by Wc1is 300 nm, and a length denoted by Wc2 is 280 nm, for example.

More specifically, in a transistor illustrated in FIG. 19, a length Wc1from a second sidewall spacer 53 on the left side of the gate electrode51 to a device separation region and a length Wc1 from a first sidewallspacer 52 on the right side of the gate electrode 51 to the deviceseparation region are each 300 nm, for example. Areas of thesource/drain regions 54 a and 54 b differ from each other. In such acase, impurities ion-implanted into the source/drain region 54 a havingthe larger area are diffused through a larger distance during the heattreatment in comparison with impurities ion-implanted into thesource/drain region 54 b having the smaller area. In view of the abovepoint, only the first sidewall spacer 52 is disposed on the right sideof the gate electrode 51, and the second sidewall spacer 53 is disposedon the left side of the gate electrode 51 in addition to the firstsidewall spacer 52.

FIGS. 20A, 20B, 21A, 21B, and 21C are sectional views illustrating amethod of manufacturing the semiconductor device according to the secondembodiment in order of successive operations.

As illustrated in FIG. 20A, a device separation region 46, a gateinsulation film 41, the gate electrode 51, pocket regions 43, extensionregions 44, the (first) sidewall spacers 52, and the (second) sidewallspacers 53 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 50 in a similarmanner to that in the first embodiment. Operations until obtaining sucha state are similar to those illustrated in FIGS. 6A, 6B, 7A, 7B, 8A,8B, 9A, 9B, 10A, 10B and 11A. In this second embodiment, it is assumedthat the sidewall spacers 52 are each formed of a silicon nitride filmhaving a width of 38 nm, for example. Also, for example, the sidewallspacers 53 are each formed of a silicon oxide film having a width of 5nm.

After coating a photoresist over the entire upper surface of thesemiconductor substrate 50, exposure and development processes areperformed to form a photoresist film 55 covering a zone where thesource/drain region is to be formed on the left side of the gateelectrode 51.

As illustrated in FIG. 20B, the sidewall spacer 53 on the right side ofthe gate electrode is removed by etching with the photoresist film 55being used as a mask. Thereafter, the photoresist film 55 is removed.

As illustrated in FIG. 21A, P (phosphorous) is ion-implanted into thesemiconductor substrate 50 with the gate electrode 51 and the sidewallspacers 52 and 53 being used as masks, thereby forming the source/drainregions 54 a and 54 b. Heat treatment is performed at temperature of1030° for 1 sec by, e.g., the RTA process to activate the impuritiesthat have been implanted into the pocket regions 43, the extensionregions 44, and the source/drain regions 54 a and 54 b.

During the activation heat treatment operation described above, asillustrated in FIG. 21B, the impurities implanted into the source/drainregions 54 a and 54 b are diffused such that the source/drain region 54a and 54 b come closer to the gate electrode 51. On that occasion, thediffusion distance of the impurities is larger in the source/drainregion 54 a having the larger area than in the source/drain region 54 bhaving the smaller area. In this second embodiment, however, since thesidewall spacer 53 is formed on the same side as the source/drain region54 a in addition to the sidewall spacer 52, the distances from the gateelectrode 51 to the source/drain region 54 a and 54 b are substantiallyequal to each other.

As illustrated in FIG. 21C, silicide films 56 a, 56 b and 56 c areformed respectively on the source/drain regions 54 a and 54 b and thegate electrode 51. Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 22, thesilicide films 56 a, for example, may be formed after removing thesidewall spacer 53 on the same side as the source/drain region 54 a. Asubsequent operation of forming a multilayered wiring structure issimilar to that in the first embodiment, and hence description of thatoperation is omitted here.

The second embodiment may also hinder excessive diffusion of theimpurities into a zone under the gate electrode 51 and provide desiredtransistor characteristics as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to athird embodiment. In the third embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 23,three transistors T1, T2 and T3 are formed in one rectangular deviceregion surrounded by a device separation region 66. The source/drainwidths on both sides of a gate electrode 61 a of the transistor T1 areeach W1. Also, the source/drain width on the left side of a gateelectrode 61 b of the transistor T2 is W1, and the source/drain width onthe right side of the gate electrode 61 b is W2 (W1<W2). Further, thesource/drain width on the left side of a gate electrode 61 c of thetransistor T3 is W2, and the source/drain width on the right side of thegate electrode 61 c is W1. Each of the transistors T1, T2 and T3 has agate width W, for example.

The source/drain width represents the distance from a sidewall spacer tothe device separation region when no other gate electrodes are presentbetween the gate electrode and the device separation region as in thefirst and second embodiments. When a plurality of transistors are formedin one device region as in this third embodiment, the source/drain widthalso represents the distance from a midpoint between respective sidewallspacers of the adjacent transistors to each of the sidewall spacer.

In the following description, a region from a sidewall spacer 62 a onthe left side in the transistor T1 to the device separation region 66 iscalled a source/drain region 64 a, and a region from a sidewall spacer62 a on the right side in the transistor T1 to a midpoint between thetransistors T1 and T2 (e.g., a midpoint between respective sidewallspacers of those transistors; this is similarly applied to the term“midpoint” appearing below) is called a source/drain region 64 b. Aregion from a sidewall spacer 62 b on the left side in the transistor T2to the midpoint between the transistors T1 and T2 is called asource/drain region 64 c, and a region from sidewall spacers 62 b and 63b on the right side in the transistor T2 to a midpoint between thetransistors T2 and T3 is called a source/drain region 64 d. A regionfrom sidewall spacers 62 c and 63 c on the left side in the transistorT3 to the midpoint between the transistors T2 and T3 is called asource/drain region 64 e, and a region from a sidewall spacer 62 c onthe right side in the transistor T3 to the device separation region 66is called a source/drain region 64 f.

In the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 23, areas of thesource/drain regions 64 d and 64 e differ from areas of the othersource/drain regions 64 a, 64 b, 64 c and 64 f. In such a case,impurities ion-implanted into the source/drain regions 64 d and 64 ehaving the larger areas are diffused through larger distances during theheat treatment in comparison with impurities ion-implanted into thesource/drain regions 64 a, 64 b, 64 c and 64 f having the smaller areas.

In this third embodiment, the sidewall spacers 62 a, 62 b and 62 c,which are formed by etching back silicon nitride films, are disposed onboth sides of each of the gate electrode 61 a, 61 b and 61 c of thetransistors T1, T2 and T3, respectively. Further, the sidewall spacers63 b and 63 c, which are formed by etching back silicon oxide films, aredisposed on the right side of the gate electrode 61 b of the transistorT2 and on the left side of the gate electrode 61 c of the transistor T3,respectively. With such an arrangement, the distances from the gateelectrodes 61 b and 61 c to the source/drain regions 64 d and 64 e areincreased and the impurities are hindered from being excessivelydiffused into zones under the gate electrodes 61 b and 61 c from thesource/drain regions 64 d and 64 e during the activation heat treatment.As a result, desired characteristics may be obtained.

The semiconductor device according to the third embodiment may bemanufactured substantially in a similar manner to that in the secondembodiment except for forming a plurality of transistors on one deviceregion. More specifically, the sidewall spacers made of silicon nitridefilms and the sidewall spacers made of silicon oxide films are formed onboth sides of each of the gate electrode 61 a, 61 b and 61 c of thetransistors T1, T2 and T3, which share one common device region. Then,the sidewall spacers made of silicon oxide films and positioned on bothsides of the gate electrode 61 a, on the right side of the gateelectrode 61 b, and on the left side of the gate electrode 61 c areremoved by the photolithography process and the etching process.

FIG. 24 is a top plan view of a semiconductor device according to afourth embodiment. In the fourth embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 24,two transistors T1 and T2 are formed while sharing one common L-shapeddevice region surrounded by a device separation region 76. Asource/drain region 74 a on the left side of a gate electrode 71 a ofthe transistor T1 has a rectangular shape, but a source/drain region 74b on the right side of the gate electrode 71 a has an L-shape and has alarger area than the source/drain region 74 a on the left side. Further,in the transistor T2, a source/drain region 74 c on the left side of agate electrode 71 b has a larger area than a source/drain region 74 d onthe right side of the gate electrode 71 b.

The gate width of the transistor T1 is W2. The source/drain width of thesource/drain region 74 a on the left side in the transistor T1 is Wc1,and the source/drain region 74 b on the right side in the transistor T1includes two portions, e.g., one having a source/drain width Wc1 and theother having a source/drain width Wc3 (Wc1<Wc3). The gate width of thetransistor T2 is W1 (W1<W2). The source/drain width of the source/drainregion 74 c on the left side in the transistor T2 is Wc3, and thesource/drain width of the source/drain region 74 d on the right side inthe transistor T2 is Wc1. Further, in this fourth embodiment, a regionfrom sidewall spacers 72 a and 73 a on the right side of the gateelectrode 71 a of the transistor T1 to a midpoint between thetransistors T1 and T2 is called the source/drain region 74 b on thetransistor T1 side. A region from sidewall spacers 72 b and 73 b on theleft side of the gate electrode 71 b of the transistor T2 to themidpoint between the transistors T1 and T2 is called the source/drainregion 74 c on the transistor T2 side.

In the semiconductor device illustrated in FIG. 24, areas of thesource/drain regions 74 b and 74 c larger than those of the othersource/drain regions 74 a and 74 d. In such a case, impuritiesion-implanted into the source/drain regions 74 b and 74 c having thelarger areas are diffused through larger distances during the heattreatment in comparison with impurities ion-implanted into thesource/drain regions 74 a and 74 d having the smaller areas.

In this fourth embodiment, only the sidewall spacer 72 a is disposed onthe left side of the gate electrode 71 a of the transistor T1, and thesidewall spacers 72 a and 73 a are disposed on the right side of thegate electrode 71 a. Further, the sidewall spacers 72 b and 73 b aredisposed on the left side of the gate electrode 71 b of the transistorT2, and only the sidewall spacer 72 b is disposed on the right side ofthe gate electrode 71 b. With such an arrangement, the distances fromthe gate electrodes 71 a and 71 b to the source/drain regions 74 b and74 c are increased and the impurities are hindered from beingexcessively diffused into zones under the gate electrodes 71 a and 71 bfrom the source/drain regions 74 b and 74 c during the activation heattreatment. As a result, desired characteristics may be obtained.

The widths of the sidewall spacers in the transistors T1 and T2 are setby executing simulation calculations of the impurity concentrationdistributions after the heat treatment with the sizes of thesource/drain regions 74 a and 74 d being parameters, and by determiningthe widths of the sidewall spacers such that characteristics of thetransistors T1 and T2 substantially match with each other, or that thedifference in the characteristics falls within an allowable range.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexamples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the presentinventions have been described in detail, it should be understood thatvarious changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made heretowithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. (canceled)
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. A method of manufacturing asemiconductor device, the method comprising: forming an elementisolation region in a semiconductor substrate to represent a firstdevice region and a second device region having a larger area than thefirst device region; forming a first gate electrode having a first widthin the first device region; forming a second gate electrode having athird width in the second device region; forming a first sidewall spacerhaving a second width on a sidewall of the first gate electrode; forminga second sidewall spacer having a fourth width, which is wider than thesecond width, on a sidewall of the second gate electrode; implantingfirst impurities into the first device region, using the first gateelectrode and the first sidewall spacer as masks, to form a firstimpurity region; implanting second impurities into the second deviceregion, using the second gate electrode and the second sidewall spaceras masks, to form a second impurity region; and activating the firstimpurities and the second impurities by heat treatment, wherein a firstlength of the first impurity region in a direction perpendicular to thefirst gate electrode is shorter than a second length of the secondimpurity region in a direction perpendicular to the second gateelectrode, and an impurity concentration in the first impurity region issubstantially equal to an impurity concentration in the second impurityregion.
 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the first width andthe third width are substantially the same.
 6. The method according toclaim 4, wherein the second sidewall spacer includes a first insulationfilm and a second insulation film, and the first sidewall spacerincludes a third insulation film.
 7. The method according to claim 4,further comprising: forming silicide films over the first impurityregion and the second impurity region after the heat treatment.
 8. Themethod according to claim 6, further comprising: removing the secondinsulation film from the second sidewall spacer after the heattreatment; and after removing of second insulation film, formingsilicide films over the first impurity region and the second impurityregion.
 9. The method according to claim 4, further comprising: afterforming of the first gate electrode and the second gate electrode andbefore forming of the first sidewall spacer and the second sidewallspacer, implanting third impurities into the first device region, usingthe first gate electrode as a mask, to form a first extension region,and implanting fourth impurities into the second device region, usingthe second gate electrode as a mask, to form a second extension region.10. (canceled)
 11. (canceled)
 12. A method of manufacturing asemiconductor device, the method comprising: forming an elementisolation region in a semiconductor substrate to represent an elementregion; forming a gate electrode over the element region; forming afirst sidewall spacer having a first width over the semiconductorsubstrate of a first side of the gate electrode; forming a secondsidewall spacer having a second width over the semiconductor substrateof a second side of the gate electrode, the second width is wider thanthe first width; implanting first impurities into the element region,using the gate electrode and the first sidewall spacer as a mask, toform a first impurity region in the semiconductor substrate of the firstside of the gate electrode, and using the gate electrode and the secondsidewall spacer as a mask to form a second impurity region in thesemiconductor substrate of the second side of the gate electrode; andactivating the first impurities in the first impurity region and thesecond impurity region by heat treatment, wherein the first impurityregion is smaller than the second impurity region, and an impurityconcentration in the first impurity region is substantially equal to animpurity concentration in the second impurity region.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the second sidewall spacer includes afirst insulation film and a second insulation film, and the firstsidewall spacer includes a third insulation film.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 12, further comprising: forming silicide films on thefirst impurity region and the second impurity region after activatingthe first impurities.
 15. The method according to claim 13, furthercomprising: removing the second insulation film from the second sidewallspacer after activating the first impurities; and then forming silicidefilms on the first impurity region and the second impurity region. 16.The method according to claim 12, further comprising: implanting secondimpurities into the element region, using the gate electrode as a mask,to form an extension region after forming of the gate electrode andbefore forming of the first sidewall spacer and the second sidewallspacer.